The new 20-acre Midtown Commons broke ground this week; it will be Phase I of Crestview Station, Austin’s first privately built transit-oriented development. As such, the “new urban village” designed around a transit stop offers a picture of Austin’s desired land-use future.
Nestled between a transit line – the new Capital Metro commuter rail (to the left of the buildings) – and Lamar and Airport boulevards, Midtown Commons is rising at the North Lamar/Justin Lane Red Line rail stop. It will include 316 apartments (renting for about $1.50 per square foot), plus ample retail and office space.
High Street Residential, a New Urbanist subsidiary of real estate development company Trammell Crow, works on urban infill projects and is partnering with Stratus Properties for v v Midtown Commons. It could take up to seven years for the next two to three phases of the 73-acre Crestview Station to be built out. Single-family houses, included in the next phase, are estimated to start in the mid-$200,000s. High Street Residential speaks the New Urbanist speak and is developing TODs around the country. It holds up Crestview Station as an example of its mission to “support smart growth, green buildings, and environmental programs by developing sustainable facilities with human-scale characteristics.”
This article appears in May 16 • 2008.